Did NFF hijack Japanese donation of about $390,000 to Dream Team Vi?

Katsuya Takasu

There are reports that officials of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) have hijacked the donation of wealthy Japanese man Katsuya Takasu to the Dream team Vi totalling $390,000.

Former Super Eagles goalkeeper and SuperSports football analyst Peterside Idah posted on his Twitter handle that the officials of the football house want to use the money to pay coaches’ salaries.

Katsuya Takasu

“More trouble in the dream team camp….the money from the Japanese man to the dream team.has been hijacked by the NFA .they want to use,” Idah tweeted.

“The money to pay the coaches as salaries/ Bitrus Bewarang was sent to get the money from the Japanese, but the players say it’s their money,” he added.

More trouble in the dream team camp….the money from the Japanese man to the dream team.has been hijacked by the NFA .they want to use

— idah pee (@IdahPeterside) August 20, 2016

THE money to pay the coaches as salaries/ Bitrus Bewarang was sent to get the money from the Japanese ,but the players say it’s there money
— idah pee (@IdahPeterside) August 20, 2016

Meanwhile, the Nigeria Football Federation president Amaju Pinnick has blasted former goalkeeper saying he is ‘mischievous’.

“His message was a lie, an atrocious false alarm before an important match,” Pinnick raged. “I had exchanged correspondence with the Honourable Minister on the issue of the donation and we agreed that there was need for caution.

“The minister said to me that he read the donation in the papers and had expressed serious concern. I also received a mail from the NFF Integrity Officer who expressed very serious concern with this kind of donation.

“I got in touch with the ambassador of Nigeria to Brazil and the honourable minister to say that whatever had to be done should be done after the bronze medal match, to avoid any distractions. The NFF may be having financial challenges, but I assure you nobody in the Federation is interested in that money.

“If we get the government’s go-ahead to collect the money, no official of the NFF will be involved even in the collection. The money will be received directly by the team.”

Pinnick added that the status of Nigeria as a sovereign nation, and the integrity of Nigeria football, is bigger than such financial gains. “If we had rushed to collect that kind of money and hand over to the players, the same people who are condemning the NFF now would have said worse things.

“There are matters in the football world today that FIFA and the various confederations frown at. We are very much aware of that.

Japanese billionaire Katsuya Takasu promised each member of the Dream Team VI squad $30,000 should they win gold in football at the Rio Olympics.

Takasu also pledged $20,000 for silver and $10,000 for bronze after the hearing financial crisis that have plagued the national U-23 team.